Sunday, March 31, 2013

Beckoning And Calling

We had an evangelist and his wife over for dinner yesterday. He underwent seven years of training as an evangelist. He said: "Some Churches beckon. Other Churches call. Where they beckon, they stick the knife in. There must be a call." OBSERVATION: In his "intake" of 45 students, five made it through the seven-year course.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Table Bay Hotel

Here is a nice place to dine if money is no object. No, I am joking. This was a thoroughly enjoyable outing at Cape Town's Table Bay Hotel. It was spacious, restful, tasteful, friendly, and a very nice meal. That's wife E. on the right. One may click on the image to enlarge. OBSERVATION: The prices may be a fifth more than the usual, the portions more modest.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Sea Point At Night

This is a photo of our suburb Sea Point at night -- all of it, and some of its environs -- taken from Head Road. In the background is Table Bay, and on the right Signal Hill. The high-rise coastal strip on the left tends to be populated by the wealthy, both permanent and seasonal, the centre strip by workers, both local and foreign, and the area on the right by more middle-class, settled citizens. OBSERVATION: Someone said to me: "One wouldn't think there is so much sin in one small space."

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Lost Design

My dear wife encouraged me to put some order into my many hundreds of electronics magazines. Sandwiched between them, I found one of my best designs -- unpublished.  It is a battery-less wind-up torch / flashlight with FET regulator. With a ten-second "punch" of energy to a super-capacitor, it delivers 7 minutes' high beam or 45 minutes' reading light. OBSERVATION: At one time, I turned out dozens of designs a year -- so I could easily lose track of one.
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NOTE: The lost design was subsequently published in EPE's IU column, I forget when. Falling voltage on the FET's gate increased conduction to the torch.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

"Look Out For Each Other"

I much agreed with a message that my wife and I received from a local minister's wife: "We know that when it comes to ministry, two is better than one. God has always used us like a tag team, we have felt the strength of God as we have pulled together. Remember to always be kind to one another, looking out for each others needs above your own and you will be just fine."

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Poetry And Science

Someone wrote to me: "I've been working on quite a bit of poetry lately."  I responded by putting one of the "tenets" of my recent paper into verse:

. . . Poetry draws connections
. . . In various directions
. . . They say it ain't a science
. . . But I treat that with defiance
. . . Science draws connections
. . . In various directions
.. . . . . . . . . Thomas Scarborough

OBSERVATION: "Poetry" may be replaced with anything of one's choice here. "defiance" may be too strong a word, yet it's the one that rhymes -- it may appeal to some. (The paper: Revisiting Aristotle's Noun).

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Presbyterian Tree

 
This one's just a pretty picture -- a fish-eye photo of a tree at our local Presbyterian Church. It's an Australian import -- a gum tree. The Presbyterian Church is veeery ooold -- and so, it would seem, is this tree. You may click on the image to enlarge to VGA.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Flashback 2003

This man, Temeeti, was my guardian in the mission. My father was appointed by the London Missionary Society as itinerant missionary, which means that he did a lot of travelling -- whether by bicycle to nearby villages, or by canoe to other isles. I followed Temeeti everywhere he went, and he often picked me up sleeping after maneaba (meeting house) events. He showed me how to catch octopus, how to kill clams, how to open coconuts, and so on. As he knew the local ways, he provided for our family where there were no shops of any kind. I took the photo in 2003, 35 years later. He was delighted to see me -- and I him.